Attacks against Mexican Immigrants
Have Evolved into a National Psychosisby
Professor Lorenzo Cano Galaviz
University of HoustonHOUSTON - June 29, 2007 - Many individuals in the United States deny the current systematic persecution of undocumented Mexican migrants. This is just as incredulous as denying that the persecution against Gypsies, Poles, Slavs, Jews and other people ever occurred as carried out by the Nazis during the 1930’s through the mid 1940’s or that the persecution and genocide of indigenous Native Americans never occurred. The verbal hate mongering against Mexican undocumented immigrants is such a regularly widespread and venomous phenomenon that it has evolved into a national psychosis. A psychosis is defined as a defective condition characterized by a loss of contact from reality. It is a serious problem for any infected individual as it is for an infected nation. This was witnessed this past spring when Fox News host of the O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly, verbally attacked Geraldo Rivera while discussing a drunken driving case that O’Reilley wanted to turn into an anti undocumented (Mexican) immigrant bashing incident. It was clear that O’Reilly was totally out of control as he “foamed at the mouth” with extreme hatred and rage over the presence of undocumented Mexican residents. Another example is the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass an immigration reform bill. Rather than negotiate in good faith a significant number of U.S. Senators, mostly from the Republican Party, could not get themselves to support important provisions on behalf of Mexican undocumented immigrants although most reputable studies point out the net-positive benefits of their presence as workers and as consumers.
What is behind this National Psychosis?
Vicious verbal attacks against Mexican undocumented migrants, such as O’Reilly’s, are heard every day on hundreds of radio stations throughout the country and on other television programs and networks, such as the one hosted by Lou Dobbs on CNN. The nature and frequency of these attacks are linked to xenophobic and racist sentiments deeply rooted in the collective psyche of U.S. society. This xenophobia is not only displayed by uneducated social misfits of our society, as one would expect, but many educated individuals at the local, state, and national levels-- including Texas U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey-Hutchison.
Xenophobia is defined as a fear of strangers or of immigrants who possess traits and characteristics that some consider foreign to a nation’s culture, language and heritage. As a result of this phobia many xenophobes engage in all types of hideous activities to keep targeted groups from becoming part of society. Nativism is a similar term applied to xenophobic sentiments and activities as they have evolved specifically in the United States. Any individual in the U.S., regardless of his or her race, can be a nativist. This is why a small number of Latinos and African Americans have been associated with certain nativist organizations. However, nativism has formed primarily among Anglo communities in the United States and is historically tied to White (U.S. Anglo) nationalism. Nativism in the U.S. is recognized as a convoluted form of nationalism (patriotism and loyalty to one’s country) causing many of its followers and converts to feel frightened and insecure about their role and privileges in society; particularly in light of the presence and growth of groups that they have targeted and learned to fear. On the other hand, racism is the belief that racial differences result in an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the U.S., significant sectors of Anglo (heritage) society feel superior to people who possess physical traits and characteristics common to many individuals of Mexican descent, such as darker skin tones or other physical features.
Historically, racism and nativism have been major underlying maladies that have led to the specific discrimination and persecution of Mexican Americans in the United States. These twisted and potentially dangerous sentiments are fueling the persecution against Mexican undocumented residents in the U.S. today (as well as against others who appear to be of Mexican descent such as Central Americans). Some anti-Mexican nativist organizations in the U.S. today include: U.S. Border Watch; the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR); Sons of the Confederacy; Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC); the Minute Men, and the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization (see the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center for more details).
Mexican Americans have a long history of experiencing nativism and racism which has resulted in a number of discriminatory conditions and consequences such as, social and geographical segregation, employment discrimination, patterns of abuse at the hands of law enforcement officials, vigilante murder and justice, substandard education, electoral fraud, exclusion from petit and grand juries, forced dislocations from their neighborhoods, voter intimidation, and language discrimination. Documentation of these experiences exists in abundance (See the Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied Aztlan by Armando Navarro; Rodolfo Acuna’s Occupied America; They Called them Greasers by Arnoldo de Leon; and Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 by David Montejano). Hence, the current persecution of undocumented Mexican migrants is simply another attempt by nativists and racist to relegate people of Mexican descent to a position of powerlessness and has nothing to do with the “undocumented” status of this group. As in the past, nativism and racism are intersecting hand in hand in order to maintain Whites in power and in control of U.S. institutions and society (as nativists imagine it). The majority of the city council in Farmers Branch, Texas, adjacent to Dallas, is a good example of this. The Mayor and city council placed a proposition to the voters that would prohibit renting apartments to individuals that are undocumented. It was passed by a significant margin this past spring. Although there is a temporary injunction to keep this from happening, this is yet another example of the actions that nativists and racists have historically invoked upon native born Mexican Americans.
Nativists oppose the use of languages other than English such as Spanish. This is ludicrous since the English language wasn’t the first and will never be the only language ever spoken in the United States. This is not to deny the importance of the predominance of English, but nativists cannot comprehend the presence, importance, growth and legitimacy of other languages. Various forms of the Spanish language and Mexican culture have existed in the U.S. for almost 160 years, and even much earlier than that in Texas, New Mexico, California and other areas prior to the United States War of Aggression against Mexico (1846-1848). Yet, hate-mongering over the presence of the Spanish language by undocumented Mexican residents in the U.S. on CNN and Fox News talk radio and television, has provoked an increase in the physical beating, kidnapping, and murder of Mexican immigrants throughout the United States. This past May several young defendants charged with beating and killing Miguel Vega in Yonkers, New York pleaded guilty. The defendants admitted that they beat, robbed and killed Vega because they thought that the 32 year old Peruvian was a Mexican. Individuals committing these crimes are being set off by the hate mongering practiced by O’Reilly, Lou Dobbs, Michael Savage and others that are reckless in their use of the airwaves. Although these individuals criticize “crime in America” their actions are provoking individuals to commit serious crimes in our country.
These acts of intimidation and violence are occurring even though 85% of eminent U.S. economists agree that the presence of undocumented Mexican workers in the country is not having a net-negative effect on U.S. society. 74% of these economists indicated that undocumented workers were having a net positive effect in the United States. 11% felt that they had no effect either way. In fact, the vast majority of reputable research in this area comes to this conclusion (see Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration by Massey, Durand, and Malone). Yet, xenophobic talk radio hosts fail to provide this type of information when bashing undocumented migrants on their radio programs. These hosts and the radio stations that hire them are outside the parameters of what our society should allow on the airwaves. Providing one’s opinion is one thing but to systematically indulge in hate mongering day in and day out against undocumented residents as they do is tantamount to shouting “fire” in a crowded theater when none exists. This practice guarantees that more Mexican undocumented residents (and others that may appear to be of Mexican descent including U.S. citizens) are going to be needlessly hurt, trampled, and killed and this must be stopped by the corporate media giants that allow this to happen. Ironically, these very same media giants, such as Clear Channel, also own and operate media outlets that cater specifically to Mexican immigrants knowing very well that many are undocumented and that they can make substantial amounts of money in advertising dollars.
English language news media outlets, in particular, have failed to report the nativist nature of organizations such as U.S. Border Watch and the Minute Men. In fact, few media outlets have ever used the term “nativist”or “xenophobia” when reporting on the activities of these groups. One of the reasons for this is that reporters and assignment editors are ignorant about the meaning of these prejudices and how they are interwoven into the fabric and psyche of a nation. Like many media professionals during the growth of the Nazi power surge in Germany, anti-Semitism was not recognized for what it really was. The national psychosis prevalent during that time period in Germany blinded individuals from reality. It became common knowledge that Jews and other groups were being incarcerated and murdered but Germans of diverse backgrounds rationalized it as acceptable due to xenophobia—their own disconnection from reality demonstrated by dehumanizing others that didn’t fit their notion of who belonged in their new world order. Many educated and “decent” professionals in German society such as teachers and medical doctors accepted this brand of nativism (Nazism), and therefore, supported the persecution of targeted groups, often without any feelings of guilt or remorse, just as many people in the U.S. have no remorse for the persecution of undocumented Mexican migrants. Like the Nazis in Germany, many nativists in the U.S. mistakenly feel that they are doing their patriotic duty by invoking repressive measures against Mexican undocumented residents. This appears to include U.S. Senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, who appear to be using the legislative branch of government to carry out their nativist agenda.
Attacks against Families
Today’s immigration policies and raids are having a devastating impact on thousands of decent families. Hard-working individuals that simply want a better life for their families are being incarcerated and deported while many children are being separated from their parents. Immigrant children are also being incarcerated in prisons called detention centers such as the Hutto facility in Taylor, Texas (near Austin) for nothing more than for traveling with their parents. Ironically, hardworking parents are being arrested for doing nothing more than simply wanting to pick themselves up from their own bootstraps. Believing that this type of repression is justified due to the undocumented status of individual family members is to have a myopic and bizarre view of our society. Worse of all, it capitulates to the acceptance of a dehumanizing society where the violation of family and human rights is of no significance.
Immigrants form part of family and community networks. Many of these families are mixed in terms of the immigration status of individual family members. When parents are captured in an immigration raid and locked up and deported, there is a good chance that their children will come home from school to an empty home with no idea on the whereabouts of one or both of their parents. Many of these children and teenagers are U.S. citizens but shun the idea of calling the police for fear that it will bring attention to the legal status of their parents. When this occurs, the future of these children is jeopardized with consequences that no decent society should tolerate. According to the Migration Policy Institute there are approximately 3 million children in the United States where this could occur. In addition, there are approximately 1.6 million children who, like their parents, are undocumented. This means that 4.6 million children in our country could theoretically find themselves parentless or with the possibility of losing one of their parents if the nativists and racists had their way. The incarceration of productive and hardworking parents and innocent children is a reflection of degenerative thinking. The accusation that these individuals have broken our immigration laws and therefore deserve this treatment is simply a pretext, a type of red-herring, intended to gain support for the xenophobia that has run amuck in our country.
Texas U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison are against maintaining provisions for family unification as witnessed during the recent negotiations of the failed Senate immigration reform bill. This means that a naturalized citizen would not be able to sponsor members of their family to the United Sates in order to be together. They also have been suspiciously quiet about the incarceration of boys and girls in Texas immigration prisons although they are the most powerful elected officials in Texas. They also supported legislation that would penalize undocumented migrants thousands of dollars beyond their means before they could file for permanent residency even though the overwhelming majority of these individuals are indispensable to our economy. One of the schemes by Republican Senators was to support legislation where anyone that had worked with a false social security number would never have the opportunity to get their permanent residency. These provisions would have practically eliminated all current undocumented residents. It should be noted that the effort by Republican Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison had the support of the Council of Concerned Citizens and the National Alliance – two of the most neo-fascist organizations in the United States.
Like malaria or typhoid fever our nation is infected. The outbreak and spread of xenophobia (nativism) and racism has transformed us into a state of national psychosis. As a nation of diverse people, we must step up our organizing efforts so that nativism can be challenged more effectively. Nativists fear the growing number of Mexican and Mexican Americans in the United States since they (nativist) believe that they have a divine right to govern unabated. Perhaps they fear that a growing Mexican and Mexican American presence in the United States will challenge their positions of privilege. Our nation does not have to suffer from this national psycholsis. Mexico is one of this nation’s largest trading partners which allows for U.S. products, capital, and technology to enter its markets. Mexican immigrant workers are indispensable to U.S. labor demands and will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future, especially with the aging and retirement of the baby boomers. Many level-headed individuals of all backgrounds, including many Anglo American citizens, recognize that hardworking and productive Mexican undocumented residents are a positive investment in our country’s future and should be allowed an expedient path towards permanent residency, if they so desire. Many Americans of all backgrounds are thankful that undocumented Mexicans and other immigrants from throughout the world are willing to sacrifice and travel to the U.S. to help us build a stronger and stable economy and society; just as millions of immigrants have done so in our nation’s past. Perhaps even the past immigrant relatives of John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Lorenzo Cano is a native Texan and is the President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education and the Associate Director at the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston. He is a long-time activist for the social and political rights of Mexican Americans.
Related La Voz de Aztlan report:
